Approximately 50 employees and directors from Corn Belt Power Cooperative and its member

systems attended Orientation Days Jan. 18 or 19 in Humboldt, learning about all aspects of the cooperative’s operations. Ken Kuyper, executive vice president and general manager, reviewed Corn Belt Power’s history, detailing the growth of power use in rural areas in the 1930s and 40s, the merger of two smaller generation and transmission cooperatives to create Corn Belt Power, the development of generating sources and addition of members. He explained the cooperative’s Class A membership in Basin Electric Power Cooperative and summarized current issues and projects in the Basin Electric system. Mike Thatcher, vice president, generation, presented information on each of Corn Belt Power’s generating units. He reviewed the load management system and presented information on current environmental regulations affecting plant operations. Patrick Connor, plant manager, discussed operation of Wisdom Station, including both Units 1 and 2. Kevin Bornhoft, vice president, engineering and system operations, reviewed the functions in his department, including engineering, radio and microwave communications, system operations/control center, and right-of-way and construction. System Electrical Superintendent Jerry Moritz discussed current substation projects and Transmission Superintendent Bob Nielsen presented information about ongoing powerline work. Following a lunch break, Karen Berte, senior vice president, finance and

administration, spoke about financial operations and explained how rates are set at the cooperative. Presentations concluded with Kathy Taylor, vice president, corporate relations, giving an overview of public relations programs, government relations efforts and Touchstone Energy brand promotions. Orientation Days finished with a tour of the control center, where Brian Gibson, chief system operator, explained operating functions, cybersecurity measures and outage notifications that system operators handle.

Taylor explains, “We hold Orientation Days about every other year and invite employees and directors who are new to our system to learn about what Corn Belt Power does and how different departments interact with the role of each attendee. We get good feedback on the value of the information presented and on the opportunity for participants to put a face with a name of Corn Belt Power personnel they may communicate with by email or phone. Good member relations are essential in the cooperative system and this event helps to foster those relationships.”

Orientation Days welcome new employees, directors

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Above | Brian Gibson, chief system operator, explains control center operations to Orientations Days attendees Jan. 18 in Humboldt. Sessions preceeding the tour included information on Corn Belt Power history, generating sources, substations and transmission lines, finances and public relations.

Control center tour

Electricians, plumbers, heating/cooling contractors and builders learned sales techniques for promoting high performance homes at the Momentum is Building conference Feb. 8-9 in West Des

Moines. Sponsored by Iowa’s electric cooperatives, the conference promotes energy efficiency and builds relationships with contractors who provide services to members on co-op lines. Topics included indoor air quality and ventilation strategies, residential wiring updates and heating/ventilation/air conditioning for high performance homes.

Conference educates contractors

It seems as if Jerry Moritz, system electrical superintendent, is perpetually in a high-energy mode – similar to the

hobby street rods he refurbishes to go faster. Moritz is always ready to take on his next project at Corn Belt Power Cooperative – to “get at it,” as he would say. In fact, it was even a little hard for him to sit down for a short interview to share his thoughts on his upcoming retirement after more than 47 years at Corn Belt Power, the second-longest tenure of any employee who has worked at the cooperative. “I’m a goer, always have been,” Moritz says. “I’ve liked the people, liked the work and never looked back.” Starting at Corn Belt Power in 1971 as a general plant worker at the Humboldt Generating Station, Moritz liked anything that was mechanical and had design or engineering components. When an apprentice electrician spot came open four

years later, he jumped at the opportunity to work outdoors and learn about the electrical maintenance system. “Substations and switching stations intrigued me. Once I got into it, I couldn’t get enough. I learned under the guidance of Bob Griffin, Marv Berhow and Jack Strickland,” he recalls. As the years progressed, Moritz moved up the steps to electrician, journeyman electrician and foreman. He was named system electrical superintendent in 2008. Throughout his almost five decades with Corn Belt Power, Moritz thrived on handling new challenges and troubleshooting problems. “I’ve always said if there’s something new, let’s try it. If it’s safer or quicker, let’s go for it. I’ve always enjoyed being given a challenge and then look out. I’m at it.” Moritz mentioned several substation and switching station projects that needed to

be repaired or redesigned to work properly. Once a problem was solved, the solution was repeated at other substations to make the system even stronger. He mentions that as a young electrician he had no idea of the amount of work, stress and planning that went into project management. Since Moritz joined the Electrical Maintenance Department in 1975, Corn Belt Power has added 80 of its 154 substations. During Moritz’s tenure, the cooperative expanded the number of 69 kilovolt switching stations from 37 to 43, and increased the total of 161 kilovolt switching stations from six to nine. “I’ve had the opportunity to see our system expand and grow. We’ve increased our reliability and have almost doubled the number of switching stations and substations. We continue to make improvements to create standards so you can go anywhere in the system and know what to expect,” he explains. Kevin Bornhoft, vice president, engineering and system operations, has worked with Moritz for many years. He comments, “Jerry has been a very dedicated employee. He loves his job. He’s always had a can-do attitude. No matter what the job, he always accepted the challenge.” Along with work on the co-op’s infrastructure, Moritz mentions how he has valued the working relationships among employees in all departments. “In hard times and good times, it seems like everybody at Corn Belt cares. I would like to say to our entire Corn Belt family, our members, and the vendors we’ve dealt with all these years, thank you.” And with those appreciative thoughts, Moritz will begin retirement on May 1. Likely, his high-energy work pace will continue, newly focused on three garages housing nine cars and numerous motorcycles. Restoring that 1932 Ford five-window coupe? He’s at it.

Above | Jerry Moritz, system electrical superintendent, will retire from Corn Belt Power Cooperative May 1 after more than 47 years, the second longest tenure of any employee in the cooperative’s history.

after 47 years with Corn Belt Power

Above | An attendee of the Momentum is Building conference, right, talks about insulation with a vendor and Roger Hammen, left, member service representative, Midland Power Cooperative.

Trade show

Moritz to retire

Eagle’s Catch holds open house Owners of Eagle’s Catch, an aquaculture producer in Ellsworth, held an open house Dec. 21, showing interested parties the new facility before fish were scheduled to arrive in February. Served by Ellsworth Municipal Utilities, with power supplied by Midland Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, Eagle’s Catch will be an approximately 1 megawatt load with its fish operation and will grow another 350 kilowatts with the addition of a future processing facility. The operation will double the current electrical needs of the City of Ellsworth. Eagle’s Catch will produce 5 million pounds of tilapia per year. The greenhouse structures cover 3.8 acres of the 10-acre property and house 54 production tanks and a nursery production system. Norm Fandel, vice president, business development and member services, Midland Power Cooperative, comments, “This is a great opportunity for the City of Ellsworth and the surrounding area to be a part of a fast-growing industry. Eagle’s Catch has the largest tilapia facilities in Iowa, and we’re pleased they chose the community of Ellsworth for their operation.”

CIPCO personnel visit Wisdom Station Representatives from Central Iowa Power Cooperative’s Summit Lake Generating Plant, Creston, visited with staff at Wisdom Station Feb. 6 to discuss common issues experienced when operating a power plant that runs infrequently. The Summit Lake plant is an 84-megawatt natural gas and oil fueled peaking plant that is about the same age as Wisdom Unit 1. According to Patrick Connor, plant manager, Wisdom Station, employees from both cooperatives collaborated on issues such as water treatment and operator training for peaking plants that operate infrequently. “We shared solutions and exchanged ideas on best practices. We concluded with a plant tour,” Connor said. “They are interested in hearing about our shift schedule and we are interested in learning about their water softener. More and more plants are starting to cycle and are running into the same issues we are dealing with. The equipment was meant to be on and run as a baseload plant and now they are cycling more.”

Corn Belt Power annual meeting April 4Corn Belt Power Cooperative will hold its annual meeting April 4 at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn and Suites, Fort Dodge. The business meeting will start at 10:30 a.m., followed by a buffet luncheon. The afternoon agenda will feature guest speaker Byron Reese, a futurist who will discuss how to excel in the world of tomorrow, and how to deploy technology successfully. ■

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Data center examinedAbove | From left, Dave Taylor, CIP specialist, and Carl Epping, risk assessment mitigation engineer, MRO, examine data center equipment with Andrew Thompson, SCADA technician, and Larry Brusseau, compliance director.

Eagle’s CatchAbove | Jim Vermeer, right, vice president, business development, talks with Joe Sweeney, co-founder, Eagle’s Catch, during a recent open house at the business.

Wisdom visitAbove | Patrick Connor, right, plant manager, gives a tour of Wisdom Unit 1 to Central Iowa Power Cooperative employees, from left, Pat Madison, Lynn Kruse and Barry Garvin. Corn Belt Power and CIPCO operate plants that run infrequently.

Successful MRO audit

Two auditors from the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) conducted a critical infrastructure

protection (CIP) audit Jan. 29-31 at Corn Belt Power Cooperative, reviewing cybersecurity components of the cooperative’s bulk electric system assets. Because Corn Belt Power operates transmission system facilities above 100 kilovolts, it must complete a process that categorizes its assets into three risk levels: low, medium and high. Corn Belt Power personnel determined that two assets – the control center and the backup control center – are at medium risk and nine 161 kilovolt switching stations are at low risk. From the three CIP cybersecurity standards that were audited, MRO personnel Dave Taylor and Carl Epping randomly chose to examine equipment including computers, firewalls and the supervisory control and data acquisition system, all located in the control center and backup control center. Corn Belt Power will receive a draft report of the audit in about one month. This type of audit is conducted every three years. Larry Brusseau, compliance director, Corn Belt Power, says staff has been preparing for the audit since July. He notes the importance of thwarting attempts to breech Corn Belt Power’s cybersecurity and access its bulk electric system. “We are always looking for intruders, for system vulnerabilities and seeing what can be improved. It’s our function to minimize our cyber profile and mitigate any attempts to gain access.”

Moritz to retire

Iowans are served by three types of electric ulies:

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The power of human connections

Sam Moore, accountant I, Corn Belt Power Cooperative, demonstrated the Touchstone Energy value of commitment to community by traveling on a mission trip to Malawi with the United Methodist Church of Clarion. He and his wife offered assistance to villages and churches in

need. He says, “This trip was more about what we learned from the people of Malawi than what we brought them. I went in expecting this poor group of people to be begging for anything that we had. They instead showed so much joy for what they did have and had the strongest faith I have ever seen. They would never ask for money outright, but instead for our prayer.”

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Watts Watt is published monthly for employees and associates of Corn Belt Power Cooperative, 1300 13th St. North, Humboldt, Iowa 50548-0508. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Copyright 2018 Kenneth H. Kuyper, Executive Vice President and General Manager Kathy D. Taylor, Editor; Vice President, Corporate Relations; CCC Marena V. Fritzler, Graphic Designer; CCC

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January Touchstone Energy Volunteer Challenge winner | Jason McKenney, director, Calhoun County REC, donated his $100 drawing prize to the Lord's Cupboard Food Pantry.

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Mitch Thompson, journeyman electrician, secures steel truss at the new Ralston Substation, constructed to support load for a nearby soybean processing plant.

Corn BeltPower CooperativeA1300 13th Street North • PO Box 508Humboldt, IA 50548